Cops: Lansdale man swiped roomies' guitars, TVs and more and pawned them for drug money

LANSDALE — A Lansdale man who police said stole guitars, TVs and other items from his roommates and pawned them for drug money — and was then found hiding cocaine in his shoe while detectives were investigating the reported thefts — is headed for trial in county court after waiving preliminary hearings in both cases Tuesday.

Clad in a blue prison jumpsuit, Chad Marshall Krug, 19, of the first block of East Third Street, was led handcuffed into District Judge Harold Borek’s Lansdale courtroom for brief proceedings during which Krug waived two misdemeanor drug charges in one case, and two counts each of felony theft and felony receiving stolen property in the other case.

Lansdale police said that on Sept. 18, one of Krug’s roommates reported that Krug had stolen two guitars from his bedroom. Several days later, another of Krug’s roommates told police that Krug had stolen two televisions, a PlayStation gaming console and an Apple iPhone from his bedroom, police said.

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The second roommate told police that Krug is a heroin addict and likely took the items to support his heroin addiction, according to documents filed in district court.

While investigating the reported thefts, police said, detectives met with Krug at his residence on Sept. 23 and Krug agreed to go to Lansdale police headquarters, though he first handed over to detectives a syringe and empty heroin bags.

At the police station, he removed his shoes and detectives discovered a small red bag containing white powder, court documents show.

Krug told police he had forgotten he had cocaine in his shoe; the substance indeed tested positive for cocaine, according to detectives, and Krug was taken into custody and committed to Montgomery County Correctional Facility on a probation violation.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the reported thefts continued, and police said that Krug admitted stealing items from his roommates and selling them in order to purchase heroin in Philadelphia.

Detectives then went to the Lansdale Pawn Shop and spoke to an employee, who said that Krug had engaged in several recent sales and turned over sales slips and a copy of Krug’s photocopied identification card that he provided at the time of each sale.

Police said they successfully recovered three of the stolen items from the pawn shop: An Ibanez electric guitar, a Yamaha acoustic guitar and a Sony Bravia LCD television.

The store advised that they had already sold the PlayStation 3 console Krug sold them, according to court documents.

Police said one of Krug’s roommates told them he’d already recovered a stolen Samsung Plasma television from another store. The other roommate’s stolen iPhone has not been recovered, police said.

The total value of the items Krug stole is $2,450, according to police. who said the alleged thefts took place between Sept. 10 and Sept. 14.

On Tuesday, Borek set bail in the drug possession case at 10 percent of $1,000 cash; in the theft case, Borek set bail at $10,000 cash. Krug isn’t eligible for release on bond, however, as he’s still being held on a probation violation detainer.

Krug remains behind bars at Montgomery County Correctional Facility while awaiting formal arraignment in both cases in county court on Dec. 4.

Court records show that Krug pleaded guilty in January to felony drug dealing stemming from a 2012 arrest and was sentenced to three years probation, and then jailed for 23 days and sentenced to an additional year of probation in April for a probation violation.